The 10th annual Countdown to Christmas will draw nearly 100 million people over a matter of weeks between now and Christmas. The Hallmark Channel during the Christmas season is annually ranked as one of the most popular channels on television. Crown Media Family Network produced twenty-four new movies for 2019 alone.
Over the past few days I have taken an informal survey among friends, family, and some strangers. When I ask them about their Hallmark Christmas movie opinion, the vast majority of those I talked with love them. For those who do not love them, I asked additional questions. For those individuals, they almost all pointed to the cheesy factor or the predictability of the plot. When pushed, they like the narrative though.
What makes them so popular?
The Hallmark Christmas Movie Recipe
Hallmark serves an old-fashion, traditional Christmas full of snow, family, friends, annual traditions, parades, trees, ice skating, boxes of gorgeous ornaments, and more snow. Everything looks Christmas. Friends and strangers wish each other “Merry Christmas!” From the small-town streets to the winter wonderland snow scenes, from the decorated mantles to the picture-perfect trees, from the designer sweaters, jackets, and boots to the hot chocolate, from the Christmas carols to the gorgeous orchestrations, they focus on every detail of a snow-filled Christmas.
We can’t forget all of these as well – the cheesy lines, camera shots, shoulder brushes, accidental meetings, and perfect snow showers just on cue.
Plus there is more. The entire line of movies also promote traditional values. The landscape of typical darkness in the world disappears in Countdown to Christmas. People are not vulgar. No profanity. No drugs. No drunks. No adultery. No politics. Individuals are all trustworthy. People smile and wave at each other. Everyone loves their neighbor. People sing continually. Positive traditions are celebrated. Food is free. Kitchens are full of activity. Meals are shared. Fun is everywhere.
Many of the story lines also include people who have gone through real suffering or are in the midst of relational turmoil. There is the tension of people in progress. You sense the hurt, the disappointment, the touch of fear about the future, and the general problems of life. However, as you watch, you watch with the confidence and real hope that it all works out. Why? Because this is Hallmark. Of course it works out.
What Draws Us? Why Are They So Addicting?
In my opinion, there are at least two reasons Hallmark Christmas movies draw us.
After 10 years, it helps get us ready for Christmas.
The Countdown to Christmas on television helps us get in the Christmas spirit. The music, decorations, smiles, sleighs, and lights all come together to produce that sense of anticipation for the Christmas season. Who does not enjoy the kindness of Christmas? The graciousness shown in the weeks before Christmas is different than the rest of the year. As November turns into December, Hallmark highlights those feelings. The movies highlight the people in our lives and the importance of people around us.
Hallmark Provides a Secular Kingdom of God on Earth
In the Bible there are key components to God’s kingdom. Happiness comes from specific places and is found within certain boundaries. Hallmark captures those things without God. Christmas for Hallmark is not about Jesus or His birth. Christmas does not reflect values driven by the sacrificial love of Christ. Yet, Hallmark captures the desires of those in the image of God to get back to Eden.
We all want people to win. As individuals, we desire for people to enjoy people. We love life where the darkness in the world around us is muted. For a few moments, as people watch a movie, it allows those individuals to experience a life without those dark elements, the shame and guilt of personal sin, and their own troubles.
Psalm 1:1 reads, “Oh the happiness of the person…” and then describes what that happiness looks like in both a negative and positive sense. The positive sense wraps around God and His kingdom. Hallmark does not have that. The negative side or the put off side Hallmark does capture. The psalmist highlights that happiness flourishes in a context where one does not spend time around sinners, with the wicked, and the scorner. Now do not get me wrong, certainly the people portrayed in Hallmark are sinners and do sinful things. However, the broader sense of darkness associated with so much of culture that is wicked is not in the script. The sins and consequences of sin that plagues the culture fail to make the final cut in these movies. This gives us a sense of pleasure, relief, and escape.
God says that His friends live a certain way (Psalm 15). In these movies, for the most part, they reflect that kind of world. A world where neighbor loves neighbor. A world where people are for their neighbor not against their neighbor. For instance, in Jingle Around the Clock, one person gives up seeking a job promotion because of care for the other coworker. Who does that? Who is wiling to give up a good job so that another person can get the promotion? In God’s kingdom those things do happen.
Friends love, sacrifice, protect, promote, help, encourage, and support each other. These are the ways that Christians should live every day. Again, Hallmark capitalizes on a godly life without the God part.
What is the result?
These movies draw us. People relax when watching a show where all these things are expected. It is the cheesy part of Hallmark. However, I would suggest, it is the expected part of living for Christ as well. Consider the people and the narrative…
The people.
The people of Hallmark movies should reflect the typical Christian. We should live morally and ethically as Kingdom of God people. As followers of Christ, we should be kind, want what is best for our neighbor, and live selflessly. Essentially, each of us who claim to love and follow Christ should reflect Christ every day. In reflecting Christ in everything we do, we should live as godly, righteously, graciously, kindly, and compassionately as possible.
The narrative.
Life in the future Kingdom of God will be perfect. The hope that everything turns out in the end comes from deep within. Paul teaches in Romans that the whole world groans for future redemption (Rom 8:22). The problem is that the world in which we live reflects the evil, darkness, and consequences of depravity. Cue Hallmark.
For the time span of a two-hour made-for-TV-movie, we get a sense of a world without the realities and consequences of sin. We get what we expect. It turns out. The snow does fall. The relationship does spark. The smiles do happen. He does love the girl and she loves him back.
Is it a reflection of God’s kingdom? Absolutely not. Instead it is a reflection of a secular Kingdom of God. A world that does not exist yet we long for it. A world where life is good even when imperfect.
Enjoy your Hallmark Countdown to Christmas!
As you do, just realize that first, Christ calls you to your best as a Christlike person not just at Christmas but all year long.
Second, recognize that the Hallmark world is a very, very dim reflection of the real Kingdom of God. Allow Hallmark to remind you that a much better day is coming. God does rule and one day we will enjoy the fullness of that kingdom. Until then, we see through a glass dimly. Enjoy the smiles but know that the real thing for which we yearn is God’s Kingdom in its fullest in Christ.
Merry Christmas!
KevinCarson.com | Wisdom for Life in Christ Together